WWII emergency worker practices decontaminating gas attack

During World War II, there were fears Japan might resort to gas warfare against Australia. Wardens and National Emergency Services workers were expected to recognise and respond adequately to gas contamination – washing an affected area, and covering it in layers of sand that were swept into bins and later buried. While the government even went so far as to distribute 1 million gas masks to New South Wales civilians in 1942, no gas attack ever eventuated. Pictured here, National Emergency Services workers in protective clothing clean an area after its decontamination. (State Library of Victoria/Flickr)